The beautiful marriage of efficiency and quality that you can attain with an AeroPress is difficult to match. These brewers offer true coffee lovers the versatility they crave when brewing their coffee. But with great versatility comes great responsibility…
At A Glance: Best Coffee For AeroPress
And that responsibility is choosing the right bean.
Quick Summary: The Best Coffee for AeroPress
 | Our Top Pick Lifeboost Light Roast Organic Coffee |
| Check On Lifeboost→ |
 | CAFFE VITA BISTRO BLEND |
| Check Price → |
 | SPARROWS COFFEE JOVEN CAUCA |
| Check Price → |
 | Death Wish Organic USDA Certified Whole Bean Coffee |
| Check on Amazon → |
 | Volcanica Hawaiian Kona Coffee |
| Check on Amazon → |
 | Coffee Bean District Direct Columbia Supremio |
| Check on Amazon → |
 | Café de Loja Coffee Beans Medium/Dark Roast |
| Check on Amazon → |
 | Dancing Moon Mexican Chiapas Organic Whole Bean Coffee |
| Check on Amazon → |
 | Tiny Footprint Coffee Organic Nicaraguan Coffee Beans |
| Check on Amazon → |
While most high quality coffee will probably taste great brewed in an AeroPress, there are a few beans that shine particularly bright when paired with this brewing method.
So read on for our top picks (and a few tips).
Before Beginning
Grind Your Own Beans
Why? Because the difference in taste is VERY apparent. So whether you’re looking to impress the person who stayed the night or just your own taste buds, grinding is the way to go.
This is especially important for an AeroPress and other manual brewing methods because it allows you to experiment with grind size for the best quality coffee.
Check out our video about mastering your Aeropress if you want to learn more:
That said, AeroPresses usually work best with a grind size that is slightly finer than sea salt. That’s in between what you would use for a French press and a percolator, but closer to the latter.
The finer the grind, the more rich your flavor will be- just make sure it’s not so fine that it’s impossible to push the brew through. Also, you can use a coarser grind and the inverted method for something closer to what you´d get with a French press.
Rinse the Paper Filter
First, yes, do use the paper filters rather than the metal ones you can buy from third party sellers if you want to get the distinctive AeroPress flavor. If not, just get a French press and move on.
Second, take the extra couple seconds to rinse your filter before brewing. This helps the filter adhere to the plastic cap much better and ultimately gives you a cleaner-tasting cup of coffee.
Know Your Roast
That is, if you typically prefer a medium roast, consider starting with a light roast. Dark roast person? Try medium.
An AeroPress will make your coffee taste a good bit darker and stronger than it normally does- think near-espresso level strength. But if you discover you really can’t get enough of that bold, coffee flavor, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered; check out Death Wish.
Our Top 7 Picks
Lifeboost Light Roast Organic Coffee
Lifeboost Light Roast Organic Coffee
Your cup of Lifeboost Premium Light Coffee comes from coffee beans that have been individually hand-selected as the premium bean(s) of a harvest.
One of the healthiest and finest gourmet coffees that money can buy, our top choice for Aeropress brewing is Lifeboost’s Light Roast Organic Coffee. Rich in flavor and possessing a bright, vibrant, yet well-balanced acidity, this light roast blend will give you a pep in your step, a smile on your face, and a craving for another cup.
Caffe Vita Bistro Blend
Caffe Vita Bistro Blend
A classically balanced cup, with the smooth sweetness of milk chocolate and caramel supporting a cashew-nuttiness that keeps us coming back.
Caffe Vita’s Bistro blend combines coffee beans sourced from South America, East Africa, and Indonesia. The dynamic trio comes together to create a medium roast brew that’s balanced and approachable, perfect for coffee enthusiasts of all kinds.
Seattle-based Caffe Vita’s blend is both smooth and sweet, and each cup of this joe is littered with notes of baking chocolate, almond, and caramel — simply delicious!
Sparrows Coffee Joven Cauca
Sparrows Coffee Joven Cauca
This coffee is produced in Cauca Colombia by the Cafinorte co-op’s Young Coffee Producers Program, which seeks to help 200 young people become sustainable and expert specialty coffee producers. It has a smooth body and comforting chocolate flavors up front, with enough cherry cola depth to make for a really fun cup.
Regular Roasty readers and seasoned coffee enthusiasts alike know just how good a bag of quality Colombian beans can be, and Sparrows Coffee’s Joven Cauca beans are no exception.
These beans are sourced from Cauca Colombia through the Young Coffee Producers Program, an initiative that empowers 200 young people to become expert coffee producers. From there, they’re distributed by Sparrows Coffee’s Michigan-based headquarters and shipped directly to your front door.
The smooth-bodied medium roast has hints of sweet chocolate, citrus, and marmalade — try it; your tastebuds will thank you later.
Death Wish Organic USDA Certified Whole Bean Coffee
If you are looking for something extra bold to kick you into high gear, this coffee has got you covered. If you put it in an AeroPress you are going to get that kick– hard. This dark roast is packed with caffeine and flavor, but it is not for the faint of palate.
Volcanica Hawaiian Kona Coffee
On its own this coffee offers a smooth, buttery richness accompanied by distinct cinnamon and clove flavors. It is a medium roast and tends to have a clean, smooth taste.
Those attributes are some of the distinguishing characteristics of AeroPress coffee, meaning these two are like a match made in heaven, bringing out the best in both the coffee and the brew method. If you can swing the price, these beans won’t disappoint.
Coffee Bean District Direct Columbia Supremio
Colombian coffee is particularly well suited for AeroPress because it tends to be more balanced, and the AeroPress helps define the more subtle flavors. That trend holds true with our light roast option as the press accentuates the hints of lemon, brown sugar and milk chocolate. Our only complaint is that it only comes in a 5 lb option, so it’s a bit of a commitment (but it’s well worth it).
Café de Loja Coffee Beans Medium/Dark Roast
Honestly, this is one of our all-time favorites for any brewing method. These Ecuadorian Arabica beans are single-sourced and have a deep, fruity flavor. If you pair them with your AeroPress, it’ll bring out the darker side of the roast, and the crispness that the method provides really showcases the coffee’s more complex notes.
Dancing Moon Mexican Chiapas Organic Whole Bean Coffee
Mexican coffee’s biggest selling point is its complexity of flavors; however, a lot of these tend to get lost or muddled in other brewing methods. With an AeroPress, you are able to experience a variety and depth of flavor you may otherwise miss.
This particular Mexican coffee is grown in the Sierra Madre mountains and features a classic array of flavors: cashew, cocoa, citrus, and brown sugar. It’s also fair trade.
Tiny Footprint Coffee Organic Nicaraguan Coffee Beans
Tiny Footprint Coffee is a US-based coffee roasting house that takes an “earth positive” perspective on coffee production. It’s one of our favorite organic brands and it pairs really well with an AeroPress (one of the other options also works well for cold brew).
Using an AeroPress with Nicaraguan coffee will bring some of the more nuanced flavors to the forefront. For these beans, you’ll get more of the characteristic bright flavors like apricot and fig alongside the usual bold chocolate notes.
Wait, but what IS an AeroPress?
This neat tool was created by Alan Adler in 2005. It relies on air pressure created by two cylinders and your elbow grease to push water through coffee grounds, a paper filter, and directly into your cup.
What makes AeroPress coffee so special?
Flavor-Flav
We’re talking about the flavor profile (not a ’00s TV personality- don’t worry). While you obviously need to use good coffee to get good flavor, an AeroPress is going to seriously enhance what you can taste. So even if you don’t have a palate that is trained to detect every subtle note, you will still notice more depth of flavor than you could before.
Also, with an AeroPress, you are going to get java that is both stronger and more crisp than other manual brewing methods. This is thanks to the efficient brew time and the paper filter, both unique to the AeroPress.
Versatility
While there are obviously some recommended parameters that people adhere to, an AeroPress really gives you room to explore your own personal tastes.
These are great tools for making a single-serving of almost any hot-brew you want. You can experiment with different roast, frind sizes, water temperatures, and brew times until you get YOUR perfect cup.
If you´re looking for some ideas, check out the recipes from the winners of the World AeroPress Championship (yes, that´s a thing) here.
Wrap-Up
So there you have it, a handy-dandy guide to the coffees you should put in your AeroPress. Don’t forget that experimentation is key, just because one bean doesn’t work for you doesn’t mean another won’t.
Play around with grind size, country of origin, and roast until you find the combination that is perfect for you. Aer
Happy Caffeinating!
